1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an artificial eardrum using silk protein and a method of fabricating the same, and more particularly, to an artificial eardrum using silk protein having a form of a silk membrane using silk protein or a complex thereof obtained by removing sericin from a silkworm cocoon as a material for the artificial eardrum, which stimulates regeneration of an eardrum perforated due to disease or a sudden accident, provides a clean boundary of the regenerated eardrum, and is easy to use due to high biocompatibility and transparency, and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, silk is a fabric made from silkworm cocoons spun by silkworms raised on mulberry leaves, and has been used as a material for high quality fabric for several thousand years due to its unique shine, good dyeing property, high tensile strength, smooth texture and elegant sound when brushed against.
The silk is composed of two strands of fibroin and sericin surrounding the fibroin, and generally refers to the fibroin that remains after removal of the sericin. Since silk fibroin has no bad influence upon tissues existing therearound due to high biocompatibility, it is manufactured in powders, gels and aqueous solutions and thus applied to various fields such as foods, cosmetics and the like.
In addition, silk fibroin is known to have effects in proliferation and activation of epidermal cells originating from human bodies, and thus has been discussed with regard to use for cosmetic materials (Korean Patent Publication No. 2001-52075), wound dressing (Korean Patent Publication Nos. 1999-7001234 and 2000-51938), and electrospinning nanofiber non-woven fabrics (Korean Patent Publication No. 2004-0011786, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,110,590). However, no silk materials for an artificial eardrum have been disclosed.
Meanwhile, conventional myringoplasty and patches stimulate regeneration of an eardrum perforated due to trauma or inflammation. Particularly, the myringoplasty helps an epithelium of an eardrum to grow at a perforated site using autogenous fascia or other soft tissues.
However, to harvest autogenous fascia and soft tissues, a donor harvesting operation is needed, which may cause inflammations and scars, and an increase in operation time.
An eardrum patch induces regeneration of a planar epithelium layer along the patch by applying the patch to completely contact a perforated peripheral portion of the eardrum, and thus increases a therapeutic success for a short period of time without complications. This method has been frequently used for treating traumatic eardrum perforation since it was suggested by Blake in 1887.
This method does not involve replacing the perforated eardrum with an artificial eardrum, but naturally helping to block the perforated eardrum by applying a patch to the perforated site of the eardrum. The regenerated eardrum is grown along the patch-applied site.
However, conventional materials for an eardrum patch are usually paper patches, which are not very efficient or compatible due to long regeneration time and a thickness of the regenerated eardrum.
If the perforated eardrum is left for a long period of time, chronic tympanitis may occur. It is known that a paper patch is generally used to treat the chronic eardrum perforation, but it can cause inflammation. Moreover, it is expected that it will not be easy to regenerate the perforated eardrum as senior population is increased due to aging society, and thus it is urgent to develop and market novel products for artificial eardrums.